Bay Laurel Nut Hot Cocoa

Photo by Marla Aufmuth for Forage. Gather. Feast.

Using bay laurel nuts in a rich, thick, semisweet hot cocoa reminds me a bit of the Mexican warm beverage champurrado, which is a hot chocolate thickened with masa harina, or corn flour. Cacao is typically a little bitter and not as sweet as hot chocolate. There are a lot of flavors going on here that you don’t want to drown with too much sugar, so taste first and add sugar to your liking. When camping, I mix all the dry ingredients together and just spoon them into the coconut milk as I’m heating it up. You can use other milks, but I find coconut has a natural sweetness to it. And all the nondairy milks have different consistencies—I like using a thick, creamy one, rather than a watery one for this recipe. I suggest making larger batches rather than smaller ones and saving the bay laurel nut powder in a jar.

MAKES 4 CUPS

4 tablespoons roasted, powdered bay laurel nuts (from 15 nuts, peeled)

4 cups coconut milk (or half-and-half, or your preferred nondairy milk)

1 tablespoon cacao, unsweetened

1 tablespoon orange zest (from about 1 orange)

½ teaspoon dried rose petals, finely ground

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

12 Bay Laurel Marshmallows (recipe follows) or store-bought (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, place the bay laurel nuts in a single layer and roast for 30 minutes. Move them around on the sheet, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes to an hour. They’re done when they're a toasted caramel color. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Using a nutcracker, or something that works as one, crack the shells and remove the meats.

In a spice grinder, grind the roasted nuts until fine—they’ll be a bit sticky from all the nut fat. Lay them out on a sheet and when dry, grind them again until they are powder.

In a medium saucepan over low to medium heat, warm the coconut milk and add the powdered bay laurel nuts and remaining ingredients except the sugar. Taste and add a little bit of sugar, but don’t add so much you lose the subtle flavors.

Continue to cook over low heat, stirring so that it doesn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes. It may be a little gritty, so strain before serving if you like.

Top with the marshmallows.

From Forage. Gather. Feast. by Maria Finn